Category: Salvation
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Knowing Little of God
In his work The Mortification of Sin Puritan John Owen outlines nine directions to help believers in their struggles with sin. The eighth involves meditating on those things that will always result in our humility and awareness of sin. This involves meditating not only on the excellencies and majesty of…
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O Blessed God! How Kind
O blessed God! how kind Are all Thy ways to me, Whose dark benighted mind Was enmity with Thee. Yet now, subdued by sov’reign grace, My spirit longs for Thine embrace. How precious are Thy thoughts That o’er my spirit roll! They swell beyond my faults, And captivate my soul:…
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Sanctification and The Great Commission
Excellent thoughts here: The Obedience of the Gospel. Too often acronyms cause more harm than good. Recognizing this, I have taught an acronym to the people I’ve been privileged to pastor over the last 14 years to help them with the basic points of the gospel message: Master-God is our…
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The Mercy of God
I will sing of the mercies of the Lord forever, Psalm 89:1 Thy mercy, my God, is the theme of my song, The joy of my heart, and the boast of my tongue; Thy free grace alone, from the first to the last, Hath won my affections and bound my…
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Mega Church Pastor vs. Truck Driver
Mega church pastor Steven Furtick recently tweeted this: Any interpretation of God’s sovereignty that diminishes the value of human initiative – is distorted & DANGEROUS. I forwarded that to a truck driver in our church, and he responded with this: I have this written down in my truck. I would…
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Snow and Salvation
“Come now, and let us reason together,” Says the Lord, “Though your sins are as scarlet, They will be as white as snow; Though they are red like crimson, They will be like wool.” –Isaiah 1:18 I like how the Ring’s post pictures with Scripture references. Check out their blog…
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Conversion
“Any theory of conversion that encourages a sinner to think himself born of God, on account of something that he has felt or done, or ‘made up his mind’ to do, while he is still an utter stranger to the ‘plague of his own heart,’ is clearly contrary to the…
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Looking at the Cross
Tonight we’ll sing this hymn by John Newton, to the tune Prospect: In evil long I took delight, Unaw’d by shame or fear, Till a new object struck my sight, And stopp’d my wild career. I saw one hanging on a tree, In agonies and blood, Who fix’d his languid…
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Relativisitic Parenting
There have been several “blockbuster” movies out lately, and I’ve been surprised at the number of Christians who not only are going to see these but who express (usually via Facebook) how “excellent” and “awesome” such were. So I’ve been mulling over this issue of what Christians consider good and excellent. Then…
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I Sought the Lord
I sought the Lord, and afterward I knew He moved my soul to seek Him, seeking me; It was not I that found, O Saviour true; No, I was found of Thee. Thou didst reach forth Thy hand and mine enfold; I walked and sank not on the stormvexed sea;…
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God’s Transforming Grace
Saul began ravaging the church, entering house after house, and dragging off men and women, he would put them in prison (Acts 8:3) …serving the Lord with all humility and tears and with trials which came upon me through the plots of the Jews; I did not shrink from declaring…
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A Great Illustration of Faith
After Naaman protests Elisha’s instruction to wash in the Jordan seven times to be cleansed of his leprosy, Then his servants came near and spoke to him and said, “My father, had the prophet told you to do somegreat thing, would you not have done it? How much more then, when he says…
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Experience vs. Evidence
One of the more challenging passages in the NT is Hebrews 6:4–6. This provides challenges because it sounds like one loses his salvation. However, if more careful attention were paid to what is said in the immediate and larger contexts, this perceived problem would fade away. Specifically, note the illustration…
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Amish Doubts
Here is a snippet from a post from a former Amish detailing the doubts she and her husband began to have and their search for answers from their bishop– Arriving at the bishops house he invited us into his study which seemed like only an over sized closet. We tried…
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The Tolling Bell
Oft as the bell, with solemn toll, Speaks the departure of a soul, Let each one ask himself, “Am I Prepar’d, should I be call’d to die?” Only this frail and fleeting breath Preserves me from the jaws of death; Soon as it fails, at once I’m gone, And plung’d…
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Who Said Liberalism is Dead?
It’s been the opinion of some that theological liberalism is dead. Simplistically, theological liberalism describes those who call themselves Christians but deny many (if not most) of the doctrines that make Christianity Christianity. Some believe that liberalism’s sun has set and its dead and buried. I don’t think so. Come…
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The Incarnation of Jesus Christ
I’m submitting the following for this week’s “Pastor’s Column” in our local newspaper. If you have thoughts or suggestions, let me know by noon today! 🙂 —————– We just finished what for many is their favorite time of the year, Christmas. Increasingly our culture views this season in purely secular…
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Fellowship With God
This morning I read 1 John 1; note verses 5-10– 5This is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all. 6If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie…
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Joy in Heaven
I read Luke 15 early this morning, and especially noted verse 10– There is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents. Of the things that bring joy to humanity (sports, elections, war victories, amazing feats), the fact is that none of them move…
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Let Us Love
Let us love, and sing, and wonder, Let us praise the Saviour’s name! He has hushed the Law’s loud thunder, He has quenched Mt. Sinai’s flame; He has washed us in His blood, He has brought us nigh to God. Let us love the Lord who bought us, Pitied us…
Dan Greenfield 